LABORATORY EXERCISE 6

HEATING EFFECT AND ELECTRICAL ENERGY

Objectives:

1. To be familiarize with the basic application of heating effect in our everyday life

2. To know how to compute for the electrical energy consumption

Theoretical Discussion:

Heating Effect of Electric Current

When current flows through a conductor, heat energy is generated in the conductor. The

heating effect of an electric current depends on three factors:

● The resistance, R of the conductor. A higher resistance produces more heat.

● The time, t for which current flows. The longer the time the larger the amount of

heat produced

● The amount of current, I. The higher the current the larger the amount of heat

generated.

This is studied by James Prescott Joule and he enunciated various factors that affect the

heat generated. The heat produced by a heating element is directly proportional to the

square of the electric current (I) passing through the conductor, directly proportional to

the resistance (R) of the conductor, time (t) for which current passes through the

conductor.

Hence the heating effect produced by an electric current, I through a conductor of

resistance, R for a time, t is given by H = I2Rt. This equation is called the Joule’s equation

of electrical heating.

Q = I2Rt = Pt

Joule's law

If I is the current in ampere (A), R the resistance of the conductor in ohm (Ω), t the time

in seconds (s) then the heat H produced in joule (J), is

College of Engineering

H = I2Rt, joule

How electric current affects the electric energy and power

The rate of doing work is called power. This is also the rate of consumption of energy.

The equation H = I2 Rt gives the rate at which electric energy is dissipated or consumed

in an electric circuit. This is also termed as electric power. The power P is given by P =

VI. Or P = I2R = V2/R. The SI unit of electric power is watt (W). It is the power

consumed by adevice that carries 1 A of current when operated at a potential difference

of 1 V. 1W=1volt×1ampere=1VA. Theunit‘watt’isverysmall.Therefore, in actual

practice we use a much larger unit called ‘kilowatt’. It is equal to 1000 watts. Since

electrical energy is the product of power and time, the unit of electric energy is,

therefore, watt hour (W h). One watt hour is the energy consumed when1 watt of

power is used for 1 hour. The commercial unit of electric energy is kilowatt hour (kW

h), commonly known as ‘unit’. 1 kW h = 1000 watt × 3600 second = 3.6 × 106 watt

second = 3.6 × 106 joule (J).

Laboratory equipment

None

Procedure:

1. Enumerate at least 5 electrical appliances that you have in your house and

explain how these appliances can help us.

2. List down the wattage and current of each appliance that you listed in Procedure

No. 1.

Calculations:

Given the appliances, you listed in Procedure No. 1, calculate their heat energy

consumption if those appliances will be used simultaneously 24 hours a day, within a

month. What will be the total heat energy? Show your computation.

APPLIAN

CES

POWER

CONSUM

PTION

kWh PER
DAY

HOURS

USED

PER DAY

COST

PER

HOUR

Refrigira

tor

140 W

3.36

24 HRS

0.4704

COST

PER DAY

11.30

COST

PER

MONTH

343

College of Engineering

Televisio

60 W

0.72

12 HRS

0.05

1.04

15.77
Dryer

Speaker

Electric

Fan

Conclusion:

170 W

1000 W

60

0.17

0.96

1 HR

1 HRS

16 HRS

What are your conclusions to this activity?

0.0289

0.0576

0.0289

0.9216

0.88

30.42

28.04

I can say that this activity is helpful for me because I knew how to get the

consumption of our appliances in relation to our paid electricity. Based on my

calculations, the cost of energy of these appliances is almost accurate to the

monthly billing of our current when the other appliances and electricity are

added.
Exercise Assessment Question:

1. What do you think is the relevance of this particular activity to your course?

As Mechanical engineering students, we will create machines that generate power,

such as electric generators, internal combustion engines, and steam and gas

turbines. We will also design power-consuming machines such as refrigeration

and air-conditioning systems that’s why it is important for us to study the heating

effect and electrical energy